Gatto Nero The only saving grace in this pointless sequel is having as always the great Fred Williamson back in one of his greatest roles: Black Caesar. They even mention him as that at one point because in the original he was never called that.Where do I begin to even explain this as I said pointless sequel. The original one was superb and should have just ended at that. This so-called sequel begins literally where the original ended except they changed the ending! I had the privilege to see the original in it's unedited glory with the original ending where Tommy Gibbs dies at the hands of a group of thug kids who beat the living hell out of him and supposedly he dies when he attempts to go hide out with the ledgers in his old abandoned neighborhood. In this sequel they just completely eliminate that great ending and make it where he survives by calling his dad!? The late great Julius Harris returns as Papa Gibbs as well as the beautiful Gloria Hendry as Helen and well as the late great D'Urville Martin as Reverend Rufus.I feel the Julius got a bigger and better role in this one and it's quite a funny sight to see him just change from being a regular gentleman Mr. Gibbs to the "Superfly-ish" Big Papa. He makes quite a convincing gangster/thug. Gloria & D'Urville where just wasted in the meager roles and Gloria basically gets strangled in a alley because she was reduced to being a prostitute. Even the great Fred Williamson barely rode on his charisma alone on this one but for me just did not achieve what the far superior original did. The only good part Fred had was towards the end when he takes on the whole mob by himself in a one-man army type of thing. We also get to see Fred doing a lot of running and showing his still at the time physical agility and skill as a sprinter/runner. The musical score on this sequel was way inferior to the superb score James Brown did in the original. To me the music alone on the original made the picture. Here, it was not bad but was completely lacking in the way Brown did his score.Of the new characters only the lovely Margaret Avery as Sister Jennifer and Tony King as the treacherous enforcer Zach made a impression on me.All in all not a bad film but not a good one either. I will watch and re-watch the original "Black Caesar" over and over and never get tired of it but this sequel? No way. One time viewing was enough.

tavm So a couple of days after I watched Black Caesar on Hulu, I got my Soul Cinema Double Feature DVD and saw the movie's sequel there: Hell Up in Harlem (by the way, Cotton Comes to Harlem was the other feature). Like the movie serials of long ago, this follow-up ignores some of the details of the last one (like the fact that after Tommy Gibbs is shot, he dies when a group of ghetto kids beat him up). Also, the father as played by Julius Harris wasn't someone who admired his son's lifestyle in the previous one yet here he seems to relish the chance to be his son's partner. One more thing, it seems convenient that D'Urville Martin's crooked preacher of the first one is suddenly reformed as a real one here though he goes back to his previous characterization soon enough. Anyway, this time the villain is district attorney DiAngelo (Gerald Gordon) who seems to want Gibbs real bad to the point of willingly taking Tommy's ex-wife (Glora Hendry) with him when she tells him about those ledgers that was a plot point in the previous movie. I'll just stop there and say that despite the contradictions inherent between both movies, I enjoyed this one perhaps a little more due to more action (clumsly as some of it is) and less of a serious tone. Certainly the revenge scenes of the respective villains in both movies provide some sort of catharsis to anyone who suffered through many of the stereotypical characterizations of African-Americans from previous years. I have to admit though that some of the scenes of Tommy and his "son" border on the cheezily saccharine. Good thing they're very brief. In summary, Hell Up in Harlem is a bit more fun compared to its predecessor even though writer/director Larry Cohen was involved with both. And while the songs by Edwin "War" Starr aren't as good as those of James Brown in the predecessor, they're okay. So, yeah, that's a recommendation. P.S. The trailer presented with the movie has an extra scene in which female black maids and members of an Italian mob are singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" with Williamson saying, "Isn't America great?" Amusing stuff though I can see why it didn't end up in the movie.

DJ Inferno Another kick ass blaxploitation classic, director Larry Cohen really knows his stuff! "Hell Up in Harlem" features even more action than it´s great predecessor "Black Caesar" does! It´s a fast-paced crime story about the rise and fall of an Afro American godfather and everybody who loves such blaxploitations goodies like "Dolemite", "Blacula" or "Foxy Brown" should give it a look! Once more, main actor is the ultimate coolness and it´s no wonder why Quentin Tarantino digged him out for his funny "From Dusk Till Dawn" movie. Unfortunately, they don´t make stuff like this anymore! Movies like "Dead Presidents" or "New Jack City" are nothing else but failed attempts to exhume the blaxploitation genre! Better watch the originals again, they are da real deal!

smiley-32 Hell up in Harlem is one hell of those classic blaxploitation film. Too true though, 'cos I got this one on tape.This tells the story of Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson), the Black Caesar of New York's underworld who suffers a brutal blow when he gets shot in the streets courtesy of crooked New York cops trying to put an end to his reign of private organisation.One thing for sure, he gets hold of the book of ledgers, names of corrupt people responsible for screwing around the neighbourhood making people lives hell in New York City.. Tommy is a man who won't go down in a fight, in fact he goes around bumping off drug suppliers, gangs, corrupt lawyers, etc who causes trouble in and around New York's underworld...Also his main problem is another crooked officer James DiAngelo who seems determined to stop Tommy Gibbs from ruining his business.When it all grinds down to the nitty-gritty Tommy takes another shot to finish those where he started and restore peace to New York's underworld.This film made me laugh in a few parts, basically it's all to do with one man running his organisation in order to bring the bad guys who screwing up New York's neighbourhood.Great songs from Edwin Starr who also sings the theme tune to the film..It's worth a watch which Fred Williamson one of the stars who still makes his name as one of the classic names in blaxploitation films to date..If you ever get to see Hell up in Harlem, you'll see how the Big Boss takes care of the business.. You catch me drift..?